On our way to Kuzomen with a stopover in Kashkarantsy. Of things unpleasant, it was road repair, with 10 kilometers of large gravel between Umba and Kashkarantsy. Of misadventures, it was a blown camper tire. If we lose another one we are looking into a serious adjustment of plans as the nearest tire repair place is in Umba, 100+ kilometers of a really bad road back.

Saw a fox right in front of us but by the time Alexandra got out her camera the animal had almost disappeared in the bush.

Just letting the world know that we are slowly moving back towards Kandalaksha, and it is business as usual starting this evening. Greetings from the village of Kashkarantsy, where we stopped for the night.

Almost free of misadventures. The only exception was the muffler that broke off while we were, already in Kuzomen, going through deep sand. No effect on the vehicle’s ability to move. Of the south coast of the Kola Peninsula attractions, I’ll share the impressions of our stop by the Chapel of the Unknown Monk, one of the key local saints whose body was pulled up in fishermen’s nets somewhere in the 16th century near what’s now the village of Kashkarantsy. The poor fellow never got identified, but fish was caught particularly well in the sea near his grave, and miracle cures happened, thus the status of “local saint” and a small chapel. In our stops there in previous years, we were delighted to see a donation box left undisturbed in this remote and unprotected place. Now it is gone, with the following instructions displayed instead:

“In the winter of 1888, on the 5th (new style: 18th) of January, at about three in the morning, the residents of Kashkarantsy were awakened by a strange and terrifying noise of ice mountains of huge size moving onto their village from the sea, destroying barns, houses, and boats..”

Our friend snowman-pro just posted this August’s photos of their para-glider flights over Kashkarantsy, Kuzomen, and Varzuga. Photos taken from low height, with lots of details, thus a realistic picture of what the land is like.